Why planes landing at SFO flew scary close to Highway 101 on Sunday
By Amy Graff, SFGATE Updated 10:48 am PST, Monday, February 10, 2020
Drivers passing the San Francisco International Airport on Sunday may have been surprised to see planes passing directly over Highway 101.
Fierce north-northeast winds kicked up around the Bay Area after sunrise, forcing planes to change their landing patterns through the day.
SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel said planes were using the 1L and 1R runways closer to the freeway rather than the runways adjacent to the bay.
“When we’re on that rarest of patterns, landing aircraft approach from the coast, descend over Millbrae, and touch down just after crossing over Highway 101,” Yakel said. (See a diagram showing the landing pattern in the gallery above.)
Yakel added that…